Wu Yi

Wu Yi born in 1938 in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, to an intellectual family, she studied petroleum engineering in college and became deputy manager and Party secretary of the giant Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Corporation, 1983-1988.

From 1988-1991 she was elected vice mayor of Beijing, with the city's foreign trade and industrial development as her portfolio.

From 1991-1993, Wu served as vice minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (MOFTEC).

In 1992, she was elected president of China Association of Foreign-Funded Enterprises.

From 1993-1998, Wu served as minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, where she became known as the "Iron Lady" because of her tough negotiating style.  She orchestrated with the United States several agreements on copyright protection, trade and investment. In 1993, when trade frictions with the United States were at a peak, Wu impressed the party brass with her handling of talks with Mickey Kantor and Charlene Barshefsky.

She maintains closed ties to Zhu Rong Ji, who put her in charge of overseeing the WTO negotiations with the US and EU.  In 1999 she tackled five trade agreements with Russia.   

In 1997, she became one of China’s five state councilors and an alternate member of the politburo, and a member of the CPC 14th and 15th Central Committees.

She is the most powerful woman in the Chinese government and at age 64, she is still a rising star in the party.  It is widely expected that Zhu Rongji will push for her promotion to higher posts as a way for him to keep his hand in China's reforming economy.

Prediction: Politburo Standing Committee Member 2002